"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

2:10 p.m. ET: My 12-year-old son Jefferson asked, ‘What does ‘suspending’ mean?” It means “quit.” Cain will still be on the ballot in several states. He could, if he chose, resume the campaign at some future point, but in general, “suspend = quit.”

The good news? J.D. Gordon is now unemployed.

More good news? My “sources close to the campaign” can now speak on the record about who was responsible for screwing up.

And finally, for those of my friends worried about my future diplomatic career, it’s still morning in Vanuatu. IYKWIMAITYD.

Iowa law enforcement officials could not immediately confirm rumors that several of the remaining 2012 GOP presidential candidates have sought restraining order to prevent J.D. Gordon from coming anywhere near their campaigns.

UPDATE 6:30 p.m. ET: The disappointment of our hopes requires psychological healing, and my healing process has involved focusing my rage on J.D. Gordon. This is my fault and not J.D.’s. He showed himself a Christian gentleman by calling me on the phone just now to address my anger head-on.

More will need to be said, to explain all the misunderstandings, but it seems that I have unfairly blamed J.D. for things that were not his fault. Putting Robert Costa on Tuesday’s conference call and leaving me out? That was somebody else, and J.D. didn’t even know that media (including a Fox News reporter) were on the call until it was over.

As to the general errors of the messaging/P.R./communications operation under Gordon’s tenure . . .

Well, “extenuating circumstances” would be one way to say it, although those less charitably disposed toward Gordon might say “excuses.” Gordon spent 93 days in a crucible of nonstop crisis and, in retrospect, he never had time to fix everything that needed to be fixed, including many things that were not his fault — and being hated by some people merely because he wasn’t Ellen Carmichael.

Those of us in the press corps who admired Ellen Carmichael’s work — when she worked for a candidate best known as “Herman Who?” — are necessarily prejudiced in her favor. As my disappointment turned to rage this week, and I sought a scapegoat on whom to focus all my pent-up frustration with the failures of the Cain campaign . . .

Well, J.D. drew the short straw. And it was unfair to blame him, uniquely and personally, for destroying the Cain campaign.

We are awaiting Herman Cain’s appearance at an event where he is expected to announce whether or not he will continue his campaign for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

UPDATE: I’ve been told that Cain’s speech is actually likely to begin at 1:30 p.m., instead of the announced 1 p.m. time. The cable TV networks are full of speculation of what Cain will do if he quits. My sources say: “Full speed ahead.”

Gordon was hired in September, just before Cain’s big surge in the polls after the Florida debate and straw poll. At the time, it seems to me there was nothing but high praise for the guy.

Gordon may not have been all he was cracked up to be, and Block is clearly out of his depth in a national campaign, but blaming them for the collapse is just scapegoating.

They had nothing to do with what Cain did before he hired them. They could not know more than Cain told them about the allegations. They surely didn’t advise him to tell multiple contradictory stories on Day One after the Politico story so that even if the accusers turned out to be phonies, Cain would still be caught lying about what he knew about their settlements.

Gordon and Block didn’t make Cain get that deer-in-the-headlights look when asked fairly simple policy questions, and I seriously doubt they advised him to ignore the early states and keep to his part-time campaign and full-time book tour schedule when he became a contender.

No sir, no ma’am. This is 100% on Herman Cain, and the sooner everyone admits it, the sooner we can move on.

Conservatives need to stop falling for every candidate who throws them some red meat. It is just too easy. If we only needed someone to lacerate the leftists and the media, we’d nominate Dennis Miller. We need someone capable of helping to actually straighten out the mess, and that will be an extremely demanding task.

Despite what you see in Obama, the Presidency needs to be about more than making speeches, playing golf, taking vacations, steering contracts to your donors, and riding a bike with a stupid-looking helmet.

Anonymous December 3rd, 2011 @ 4:42 pm

Well, I have been told by supporters of Rick Perry that a turnip would be better than Obama.

I have always said it is wrong to blame the campaign staff for failure, in that it was the candidate who hired the staff, and he is responsible for his choices.

Mark Block? His early and steadfast loyalty to Herman Cain was his chief qualification for the job. And as someone who values loyalty, I understand that.

J.D. Gordon? Talked himself into a job for which he proved to be unqualified and, in the process, pushed Ellen Carmichael out of the campaign.

Does that make Gordon a bad person? No, because he evidently didn’t realize the vast gulf between being a military public affairs guy and being communications director for a major election campaign. Yet Gordon’s errors — his failure to hire people who could have helped him do the job — were his responsibility.

Should Herman Cain have hired better advisers and staff? Yes. Did any of the people he hired ever listen to any of the advice I gave them? No.

And the fact that my advice went unheeded is my fault, because I evidently failed to impress any of his staff as someone who knew what he was talking about.

[…] by the Campaign, offers a primer for explaining this situation to your children and offer’s a reporter’s thoughts: My 12-year-old son Jefferson asked, ‘What does ‘suspending’ mean?” It means “quit.” […]

[…] McCain especially had been one of Cain’s biggest cheerleaders from the beginning, and he’s left lamenting the demise of a once-promising campaign. If you are fighting a battle with the mainstream media, why would you spit in the eye of bloggers […]

They’ve got mohamadeens there too, which is why you’ll want to work as ambassador for a guy who gets that islam is a problem, a guy like Rick Santorum. 🙂
I already linked my post (earlier in this thread) about why what I say about RS and islam is true, I’ll try to resist the urge to get too spammy here.

[…] what followed in the next three weeks was the final derailment of the Cain Train, leading up to his Dec. 3 decision to “suspend” his campaign.So all the resting up I’d planned to do before the Iowa trip kind of went by the wayside for […]